Petition aims to see Jeremy Vine sacked for reporting HGV driver

A (since deleted - Ed, May 31) petition called 'Remove Jeremy Vine from the BBC' has been created on change.org, with the intention of removing cycling safety advocate and BBC presenter, Jeremy Vine, from his role with the UK national broadcaster. 

The petition appears to relate to a cycle ride Vine completed with Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Cox and other police officers from the Met, as part of the JustGiving campaign: The Andy Cox Challenge 2022. Aimed at raising money for RoadPeace - a charity supporting people affected by road crashes and also campaigning for safer roads - Vine completed the ride to raise awareness of the campaign. 

During the ride, Vine, who is filming using a helmet-mounted camera, captures a Waitrose HGV close-passing a police officer. The 57-year-old posted the video of the incident to Twitter on May 21, with Waitrose subsequently replying to the original tweet, stating it is investigating what happened. 

However, some people aren't happy with Vine's involvement in capturing the incident on camera. Consequently, the petition 'Remove Jeremy Vine from the BBC' was created, which, at the time of writing, has 2,216 signatures. 

The petition states that the video resulted in the driver's suspension. However, this has not been confirmed. Cycling Weekly has contacted Waitrose to ask what action - if  any - was taken. 

The petition reads: "In May 2022 his show resulted in a complaint against an HGV driver who has since been suspended from his job, despite the video evidence from Vine's show clearly showing the driver had not committed the offence he was accused of.

"It is likely the public have a limited amount of leverage when complaining about the content of commercial TV. However, as a publically-funded (sic) service, the BBC must be answerable to the licence-fee payers for the conduct of their employees, whether that be within or outside their own broadcasting purview.

"For a very high-profile BBC employee to act as Vine has done in promoting unfair accusations against a hard-working member of the public, one of the people partly-responsible for paying his BBC-reported salary of £320,000-324,999, is intolerable and an insult to all HGV drivers across the country."

The statement continues, suggesting Vine's reporting of the incident should result in the termination of his employment with the BBC. 

"The 300,000-plus HGV drivers of the UK have a very demanding, essential, yet unappreciated role in society. Generally they are highly conscious of the safety of Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs); many undergo specific training created by organizations such as FORS & Transport for London, purely to safeguard VRUs. They should not be vilified on TV by cheap, sensationalist reporting of the kind promoted by Jeremy Vine. 

"The BBC should remove Jeremy Vine from their Radio and TV programming immediately."

On January 29, 2022, the UK government introduced a revised Highway Code. Cyclists were given clear priority over drivers, with the new rules stating cars must leave at least 1.5 metres when passing bikes on the road. 

Close-passing a cyclist is classed as "Careless Driving", and the offence can result in a fixed penalty of six license points and a £100 fine. In severe cases, careless driving can be taken to court, with a discretionary disqualification from driving possible.